The Bitcoin (BTC) community is commemorating a significant milestone: on January 10, 2009, cypherpunk and Bitcoin pioneer Hal Finney announced that he was operating the Bitcoin node software.
Finney posted on X (formerly Twitter), stating simply, “Running Bitcoin.” Notably, he was the first person to receive a Bitcoin transaction within the network.
Born on May 4, 1956, Finney had a background in computer science and cryptography. He was among the earliest responders to Satoshi Nakamoto’s release of the original Bitcoin whitepaper.
Source: Hal Finney
Satoshi Nakamoto sent Finney 10 BTC as part of an early transaction—an amount now worth over $900,500 at current market prices. Given his close interaction with Nakamoto and deep involvement in early development stages, some speculate that Hal Finney himself might have been Satoshi.
Sadly, Finney passed away in 2014 after battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive neurological disease affecting motor skills. He died at age 58.
This historic post from January 2009 remains an essential chapter in Bitcoin’s origin story as it highlights the initial steps toward creating a decentralized peer-to-peer digital currency system.
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The Ongoing Debate: Was Hal Finney Actually Satoshi?
In early 2024, HBO released Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery, a documentary series claiming to unveil Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity.
This sparked renewed discussions about who really created Bitcoin. Some supporters argue for Hal Finney based on his expertise in cryptography research papers and being the first recipient of BTC from Satoshi himself.
A notable voice against this theory is Laszlo Hanyecz—the programmer famous for making history by spending 10,000 BTC on two pizzas—who noted that Satoshi appeared unfamiliar with Apple’s Mac OS platform during their interactions.
Polymarket odds predicting who HBO would reveal as Satoshi. Source: Polymarket
An online post from Hal Finney dating back to 2010 confirms both he and his wife used Mac OS computers regularly—contradicting claims about unfamiliarity with Apple systems attributed to Satoshi by others involved at that time.
Additionally,in mid-2023 Jameson Lopp—a co-founder of crypto custody firm Casa—presented compelling evidence disputing claims that Finnery was indeed Nakamoto:
- Lopp highlighted emails exchanged between “Satoshi” and another developer coinciding exactly with when Finnery ran a marathon race;
- The final email from “Satoshi” arrived just minutes before Finnery crossed his marathon finish line;
This timing strongly suggests they were two separate individuals since it would be impossible for one person to perform both activities simultaneously according to Lopp’s analysis.
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